Living a Connected Life

My friends have been encouraging me to start a blog for many years, and a recent change in my career path has finally triggered this first post today. After spending more than a decade in the telecommunications industry starting in the late-90’s, which we called it at the turn of the century, I accepted a position as Executive Director of Farhang Foundation, an organization created by a group of philanthropists in Southern California to “promote Iranian art and culture for the benefit of the community at large.” As an Iranian-American woman, I could not be more proud of what we have accomplished there, and am honored to continue supporting Farhang as an advisory board member.

Earlier this month, I began a new aspect of my professional journey joining GENBAND, a global software company building real time communications solutions, which touch nearly every nation on the planet. I chose to join because, in addition to having many long-time colleagues and friends there, they are an example of the transformation of what was “telecommunications” and is now communications software across all types of networks and experiences, as the Internet and web and mobile web have continued to expand dramatically.

So how do I connect the dots as I move back into the corporate world? Why am I so inspired by the move I’ve made, at this moment in my life?

When I look back on my life, I will not be counting dollars, I will be counting blessings, and I will be counting the things that really DO count – like how many lives have I been able to change for better? There is a wonderful saying in America’s National Parks System – “Please leave the park cleaner than you found it.” Of course, these signs are encouraging visitors to not litter, but aren’t those words to live by?

As part of my transition into my new role as head of marketing communications for my company, my eyes have been opened to amazing innovations happening in the world of human communications. I will write about these discoveries in this blog, and the personalities of the inventors, their “aha” moments, and the teams they are working with to move their vision into a market reality.

The name for my blog is a bow to Gandhi, who shared these iconic words to live by:

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

I am using “B” as the first letter from my name, because I am taking personal responsibility for living the best life I can live, and making the most contributions, paying it backward to all those who came before my generation to open opportunities, and forward to generations to come, which is our most sacred responsibility. I will never give up my love for Persian culture, or that part of my life and will continue to take part in cultural, artistic and humanitarian efforts within my community, even as I gear up for traveling around the world to support my company and the ecosystem of partners forming in this fascinating space.

About Bita

Bita Milanian serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Ribbon & its Kandy.io division, a global technology company with more than two decades of leadership in real-time communications for service providers, enterprises, independent software vendors, systems integrators and read more

Vision

I have witnessed the power of progress leveraging information communications technologies, and believe that when stories can be shared more easily and openly, and people can connect with each other more intuitively and affordably, we can tackle even the toughest challenges.

Mission

In this blog, I will profile individuals and teams who are inventing awesome new ways to communicate – whether through new applications, devices, communities and whole systems.